Sidekick!
by Ryadai
Summary: Robin was used to sitting on the sidelines; being the one landed with all the gruelling and meaningless tasks. So when an irritating blonde pushes her into the spotlight, will she realise everything that he knows she's capable of? Mello/OC
1. It begins

**Chapter One / May 2003**

'It begins.'

Everyone was sat around their lunch tables staring at the white haired man intently. Roger – the manager of Wammy's house – stood in front of the main notice board having just rung the bell to capture our attentions.

He cleared his throat before he spoke, "In light of the apparent lack of enthusiasm shown in recent months, the students of this institution are to be presented with a challenge of wits – so to speak."

There were many varied reactions from the small hall of students, most of which were inquisitive while some just sounded very bored by the idea. I stared down at the food on my plate, playing with it half-heartedly until I heard someone ask, "What do you mean, Roger?" It was one of the younger girls – Jay I think her name was – she seemed to sink into her seat when all attentions shifted toward her.

"I was contacted this morning with the proposition and instructed to let you all know immediately; however the full details of the challenge will arrive at a later date." He glanced quickly down at his interlaced hands before one rose to push his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. "It will take place this weekend so it will not interfere with classes – it also does not exempt you from any work you are set to do outside of the classroom. Working with another student you will be expected to advance through each task to the very end."

I snorted indignantly, turning to my best friend who was greedily shoving pineapple cubes into his mouth. "Is there really any point then? Just more work outside of work." My friend laughed through his full mouth and shrugged.

I was surprised when he directed the last comment at me; I didn't think I had been _that_ loud. "I take it that the prize – a private meeting with _L_ – is enough to spark your interests."

––––

"Hey, Robin!" I ignored the call of my name, "Robin I know you hear me, do not ignore me!" It became more of a whine as the person spoke – I was half aware of them moving closer to me.

"For the love of _God_, Combo!" I squealed as the soggy towel landed across my thighs, "Was there any need? It doesn't take two seconds to walk over here and just put it down!" The face I pulled as I angrily threw the wretched cloth away from me must have been amusing because the laughter from my companion soon caught my full attention.

"I am sorry but you were so engrossed in that book of yours, how could I pass up such an opportunity?" He sent me a cheeky wink before running back to the side of the pool, picking up another kid along the way and throwing her not so gracefully into the deep end.

I playfully glared at his back for a few moments then looked back down at the book in my left hand; the intense moment had been ruined by my friend. Combo was a flamboyant kind of guy, the complete opposite of me – I suppose that's one reason why the two of us got along so well. He was an extrovert; outgoing, confident and incredibly flirty, though you'd never be able to tell that from his appearance; his brown eyes matched his dark hair perfectly, you wouldn't give him a second look in passing – a complete contrast to his bubbly personality. I on the other hand stood out like a sore thumb despite my more reserved nature; my bright red hair was the main reason for that. Sometimes the attention I received was welcomed; it seemed a lot of people thought it was beautiful, they'd say it was _lovely_ and raved about _how lucky I was to have something so defining. _There were others, however, who didn't have quite the same take on it.

I sighed happily as I tucked a stray lock behind my ear, pushing up off of the ground to stand up and stretch. It was a Friday afternoon in May; the weather was surprisingly warm for the time of year so most of us had taken full advantage of the chance to relax outdoors. That or work ourselves up over the possibilities of the challenge we had been presented with. Unlike Combo; who had spent the last two hours running around and chuckling heartily, I'd taken to lying on the grass and reading one of my favourite novels – easily getting lost in the moment despite knowing what was to happen. I began to make my way into the entrance of the building, looking over my shoulder to throw a goodbye to Combo, which was met with a faint 'I will see you soon,' in reply.

After making my way through the place I called my home I arrived at my room, as I stepped in I was met with the mess of clothes and paper that had been left for me to clean up. I stared at it for a minute or two, contemplating whether to leave it be or clean it before I worked; as usual I settled for the former. Next to the mess in the room was the sleeping bag that Combo had occupied the night before; I would often wake up to find him asleep there despite the fact that if Roger ever found out about him being in the girl's halls after curfew he'd be dead meat. I'd protested for a while after I noticed his habit beginning to form – mainly because of the state my floor ended up in the morning after – but in the end I couldn't blame him. See, the room next door to his was home to Matt who had been affectionately dubbed 'the compulsive gamer,' he'd often stay up into the early hours of the morning clicking away at games and generally keeping those around him awake.

It didn't take long for me to finish the few assignments that I was given that morning despite the distracting cries of joy from outside – God, how I wanted to be out there. I quickly shut my book as I finished writing the last word in my work; a few years ago I would have just written some half-assed attempt the night before it was due. However, following the promotion in rank that I'd received not long before, I began to get a new motivation for my studies. Throughout my life I'd found that tests came quite easy; I had something that many people would call a photographic memory, so really I would just need to quickly look through my notes beforehand. I began to work harder once Combo had been working on a police case as work experience; being eleventh in line I wasn't allowed to help him, it was definitely weird being without him for so long.

"Have you finished for today?" I heard as I placed the book into my bedside drawer, "It got boring without you outside."

"All I did was sit and read – you were the one running around terrorising others." Frowning slightly, I made my way towards the brunette. He'd gotten himself comfortable leaning his back against the doorframe, hands in his pockets.

"Ah, but I missed you," he said, opening up his arms and quickly engulfing me in an uncomfortable hug. "All I could think about was my poor little Robin in her room all alone."

I pulled out of his arms and strode out towards the dinner hall, only stopping a little further on to give him a chance to catch up to me. "I got all of my work done, that's a good night by my standards. You know being alone isn't half as bad as you make it out to be."

"Yes, yes. You have to work hard to stay at number five, right?" I swore I could see him pout slightly from the corner of my eye.

"Well I'd feel silly if I got demoted already." I replied, folding my arms. "I can't rely on my examination results to pull my grade up all the time."

"You know that it does not matter what you do in here; when we leave I am dragging you around with me anyway." He looked over to me, mimicking the smile that was on my lips.

"So does that mean I can expect you to be my partner in this challenge, then?"

"I would say yes," he said. "But I do not think they will give us a choice when it comes to who we work with."

That surprised me – I knew that no further details had been made general knowledge yet. "Why's that?"

"It would be too easy if we all simply chose our own partners because we know how we work best with them."

"So Near would win as usual, if that were the case?" I considered the possibility of many of the lower ranking students giving up because they knew they would be beaten.

He shook his head before responding to me, "No, I actually think it would be Mello and Matt this time."

I instantly knew why he came to this conclusion. "Oh right; because Near doesn't normally work with anybody else?" I disagreed with him though, "I don't think he'd have a problem finding one though; anyone would be willing to work with the best. They'd probably just go with whatever he said without thinking twice about it."

Combo leaned towards me and messed up the top of my hair and casually draped his arm over my shoulders while I got to work at flattening it back down; letting a sound of dissatisfaction escape me. He didn't even try to come back at my thoughts, making me wonder if he had even listened in the first place. I sometimes wondered how I managed to put up with that boy; he always seemed to take control when we were working together. I'd get to the point where I was ready to confront him about it when he'd do something completely unnecessary and give me much more credit than I was due.

There was one instance when I had briefly skim-read some notes he had written while working on another one of his practise cases; even though I wasn't allowed to work by his side for it, it didn't stop me from checking up on him. He was incredibly messy, unorganized and because of that could struggle with making pieces fit – I remember he was getting stressed because he couldn't prove how the evidence he had lead him to his own conclusion. He was about to scramble through the piles of paper he had scattered around him when I asked why the chipped nail on the victim was underlined, with this he pounced on me, repeatedly telling me thanks before ushering me out of the room. Apparently he'd made out to everyone that I did just as much work as he had; he was definitely one to dramatize things.

"I suppose." I decided that response was enough.

––––

I glanced at the clock by the side of Matt – 9 PM – I'd obviously been sat with him a lot longer than I had thought because any light remaining from the blazing sun had long since gone. Matt was excitedly mashing the buttons on his controller as various different colours shone over his face accompanied by the loud sounds of bangs and zooms.

"You look more animated than I think I've ever seen you." He smirked in response, dropping the controller on the ground upon being announced the victor.

"Really? I'm sure you've seen me play more than once..."

"Today in particular."

He grinned, turning his head to look toward his bed and his blue eyes soon landed on his silent friend. The boy clad in black shifted his attention from the textbook in his lap, feeling all eyes in the room fall on him. "That's because we're excited. Right, Mello?"

Ah, _Mello_. The only reason I knew the guy was because we had Matt as a friend in common – any time I ever saw him he would be studying or working so we had never spoken properly. I suppose that whenever he'd finished hanging out with Matt and begun to work that the younger teen hunted me down for company. I'd heard a lot about him though; the younger kids seemed to think he was intimidating – there'd also been rumours going around about him beating up other residents at one point. To be honest the whole thing left me with no desire to get to know him; I knew I shouldn't be listening to gossip, but it was hard to ignore when he looked as moody as he did.

"Right."

"Obvious question – you two want to be paired up?" I inquired.

"We're already aware that we most likely won't, if that's what you're about to say." The blonde stopped me from going any further and tossed me an icy stare. "I couldn't care less who I work with as long as they're not a complete dumbass." He seemed very motivated about the whole thing.

The look I gave him was probably blank; I knew his reasoning after all, pretty much the whole of Wammy's knew. "What if it's Near?" I could tell the clenching of his fist was a non-verbal warning for me to shut up, so I did as I was told.

Mello proceeded to skulk out; grabbing a pair of pyjamas from his drawers as he left to the bathroom, I suddenly felt very awkward being in the room – I seemed to have made myself unwelcome there. Matt closed the thick curtains to block out the yellow glow from the streetlight outside of his window; turning on his lamp in compensation and swiftly powered up his computer. Matt was a technogeek through and through; it was doubtful that he spent even a day without being near a computer or a game, because of this he got a reputation for being anti-social or awkward. On some levels this accusation was true; on the rare occasion that Matt was talking to someone he didn't know very well he would shuffle constantly, his eyes scanning the room trying to escape. It was adorable, really.

He must have noticed how I was feeling because he patted the bed twice, signalling me over. "Don't worry yourself about it; you know it's just his soft spot. He's annoyed with Near, not you."

"That doesn't make me feel any better – the idea of him angry scares the crap out of me." I perched myself on the edge of the space he'd offered to me and leaned my forehead on the side of his arm.

"Mel is a softie deep down," he leaned to the side slightly as he spoke which indicated that he didn't want the physical contact while he played. "It's a shame that people assume he's a ticking time bomb; ready to explode at any moment."

I picked at the threads on my white blouse, I wasn't sure if there was any subtext in Matt's remark but I assumed so. He didn't seem to like my silence so he continued; "You should try talking to him some time."

I knew it! I cast him a weary stare which he ignored; focusing on Tetris as though the comment he'd made was simply offhand. It was obvious that Matt cared a lot for Mello – you'd rarely see him on his own – no matter how much he tried to disguise it. The two of them had joined Wammy's house at similar times, it was before the extension of the boy's wing so they had initially been forced to bunk together. I vaguely remember a few of the kitchen staff whisper about how to seemed silly to put two very different children together; especially considering Matt refused to speak to anyone for the first few months of his stay. No one quite knew why but the two seemed to click; they became inseparable. Roger had wanted to move Matt to a new room – we all knew that Mello would refuse if it were him – but he was determined to stay put. The pair were the only ones in the orphanage, despite the enormous amount of space, that shared a room.

"I can't see the two of us getting along…" I paused for a second, "We're very different people." I'd be lying if I said that I'd tried to have a lengthy talk with Mello before, which upon thinking about; made me feel incredibly guilty. I didn't even know him yet I was still making assumptions!

"That's what they said about him and I, isn't it? They wanted me to stay with _Combo_ at first." He crinkled his nose, not appearing too fond of the whole idea.

I couldn't help but laugh at the thought; even after nine years Matt was still awkward around the brunette, Combo was a little too much for him to handle. I supposed the fact that Combo had developed some form of dislike for the other redhead didn't help much either. "Oh God, you'd have been three miles deeper into that shell of yours than you were to begin with."

A comfortable silence followed; Matt seemed to be settling down for the night which was unusually early for him – I associated it with preparing for the upcoming fun. I absentmindedly surveyed the room that I scarcely entered; it was a lot unlike my own – minimalist and white – sporting mostly reds and wooden textures, it fit the old building well. The desk that the boy was playing at neatly displayed a pile of lined paper and a selection of pens, it faced away from the two beds - probably for Mello's benefit. To say the room was for two people and had to hold all of Matt's junk, there was enough space, the place was quite cosy and felt safe; like a small haven for the two teenagers.

We began to chat about anything and everything – that was one thing about the gamer; he never was dull. Neither of us noticed the subject of our conversation make a stealthy entrance until he made a light hearted joke at Matt's impending loss to the machine.

"Come on man, you're letting yourself down!" Mello teased from the spot adjacent to me.

"Am I actually going to see you fail Matt?" I questioned.

"There's a first for everything."

"Ha! Maybe I'll actually be able to beat him at something now!"

Mello smirked, "Well he does seem to belosing his touch."

Matt struggled against his computer; desperately trying to prevent the rows of blocks from reaching the top and I was slightly taken aback at how natural this banter between the three of us seemed to be. "Come on guys; you're putting me off!" He seemed to think Tetris was much more intense than it really was.

"Isn't it the long one that people normally want?" I leaned back on my hands and stared at the screen intently. "What do you need?"

"Can't you see? I need the – oh – oh shit! No!" Matt cried in defeat as the tower of blocks became too much, all while slumping against the backrest of his chair. "Damn it!"

I rolled my eyes at how over dramatic he seemed to make the situation; you'd never see him react this way at anything else. "Your score hadn't changed in the fifteen minutes. You couldn't have gotten any higher no matter how much you tried."

He shrugged and began a new game nonetheless, "I've managed to play for another half an hour beyond that point."

"Where in the hell do you get your patience from?" Mello asked while positioning himself so that he was leaning on the back of his friend's chair; watching from over his shoulder.

"Years of dealing with the two of you?" Matt came back at him while briefly looking over his shoulder at his roommate; "Stop eating chocolate over me, Mel. You're gonna get bits of it in my hair."

The playful air was refreshing; I couldn't remember the last time I'd managed to relax and have a laugh so much with someone other Combo. The two of them did seem like brothers; joking around and being completely comfortable in each other's presence – in all honesty, I was a little jealous.

"As if I'd waste it on you." The older of the two retorted.

I really didn't think anything could ruin such a peaceful moment – I began to think about how wrong I was about Mello, he could be a welcoming guy when he wanted to be, just as matt said.

That was until he looked towards me and stared with his signature aquamarine eyes, "I'm going to sleep, so you have to go now."

Yeah...forget that.

––––

When I woke up the next morning I noticed the distinct lack of a snoring mass to my side; Matt must have gone to sleep not too long after I had left – well, was _kicked out_. The sun was blinding me through the curtains I failed to shut before I fell onto my bed into a catatonic state; I groaned and rolled onto my side. I hated not being a morning person; just like I hated everyone who was. The only thing that was willing me to get up was the prospect of winning the challenges that weekend and gaining the chance to meet my idol.

After showering to force myself awake and pulling on my trademark white blouse and waistcoat, I made a bee-line to the hall. There was no point in searching out any of my companions – I knew they'd be there eagerly waiting any news. I did, however, have to dodge the floods of younger children – running around and yelling in excitement. How bloody annoying, I wish they'd keep it down a little. Did I mention that I hated mornings? Yes? Well add children to the forming list.

"Come on everyone, quiet down now. It's only -" I looked down to my watch, "Eight-thirty? Jesus Christ, why am I awake at this time?"

I was met with a series of 'Okay Robin' and 'Sorry!' responses but the sound continued regardless. I sighed, mentally cursing my lack of ability to scorn kids and pushed through the doors that kept me from my breakfast.

"Ay! Robin you are up so early!" Combo was much too cheery. He waved at me from our usual table; next to the window that displayed the courtyard and was conveniently placed near the table of fruit – which was constantly attacked by the boy.

"Don't remind me. I feel like dying." I collapsed into my seat. He rolled his eyes and stood up; I assumed he was getting my bacon sandwich for me. He better had anyway.

I watched the rain pour from my seat – it was typical really, the sun may have still been out but I'd expected it to be pleasant weather all weekend so it _had_ to be the opposite. I played with a section of my fringe which had almost completely dried and wondered if I should've sorted it all before I left my room, it was probably going to dry curly.

"Two rashers absolutely drenched in ketchup!" I heard the brunette sing, pushing the plate towards me. "Eat up, honey."

"I fucking love you, Combo." I moaned into my sandwich as I bit it, the ketchup dribbling down the side of my mouth.

He made a disgusted face and moved to wipe it off with a napkin, "You eat like such an elegant woman."

I slapped his hand away and licked the tomato sauce away myself; I had an issue with it – I admit. "Mm, thanks. No messing with the sauce though."

"I'll lick it off for you next time – you could use the lesson in sharing." He wiggled his tongue at me and laughed at his own joke.

"Shut up and eat your fruit."

He had piled a ridiculous amount of pineapple onto his crockery; any normal person would think it was to feed a whole table but he'd have no trouble polishing it off. The room gradually filled with everyone from the house and soon Roger was getting ready to address us all – I was rather pleased with myself for waking up when I did. Everyone would have been waiting for me otherwise. I saw a blob of read look towards me from the corner of my eye, when I turned I was met with the shining image of Matt tossing me a thumbs up and a warm smile, I gave him a quick one back.

"I understand that all of you are all very excited about what to come – I can assure you that I do not want to be waiting around here as much as you don't. So I ask that you all listen closely and then we can begin as soon as possible." Roger drawled and motioned for the members of staff that stood by his side to pick up the five piles of envelopes in front of him.

"You will all be given a partner which was chosen at random for you by the members of staff here and will be expected to work with them throughout this ordeal." He awkwardly sat down in his padded chair and continued, "The letters in front of me contain the name of that person – I don't want any complaints or any whinging, you'll get what you're given."

Shit. I knew this was coming but it didn't help with my social anxiety at all, the only consolation was that I knew Matt was in the same boat. Roger seemed to be finished with this section of his speech while the workers desperately tried to keep up with the crowds of bubbling orphans gathering around them. I could hear some groaning and shrieks of pleasure from those who already had theirs; the loudest groan came from the boy I sat with as he threw his letter into the middle of the table.

"Thank you." I smiled politely to Mary, one of the cooks, as she handed me mine. The neatly written alias on the front stared at me for a while, as I built up the courage to open it.

"Who were you landed with?" Combo looked sour as he waved a pineapple cube in front of his face. "I got old gamer freak."

"Matt is lovely, stop complaining." I carefully unfolded the paper, not wanting to crinkle it in any way.

"But I wanted you!" He whined and tried to hold my hands.

"Get off!"

He pulled the paper away from me before I got the chance to look down at it – the way his eyes widened scared me. "Do I even want to know?"

He passed it back to me, "You are fucked."

Sucking in a breath I looked. _Mello_.

"I should have stayed in bed this morning, shouldn't I?" I felt worry distil in my stomach as I looked toward the area that I knew Mello sat and I was surprised to see he was already returning my gaze. He gave me a simple nod paired with a smirk and then snapped his head to Matt, momentarily distracted from the conversation he was having.

I gathered something from this gesture; at least Mello didn't think I was a 'complete dumbass.'

––––

_A/N: So hello everyone! That was part one of my first fanfiction 'Sidekick!' I hope it was bearable. Honestly, this first chapter was such a pain, I wanted to introduce Robin in a way other than describing her in one huge block and then shove the relationships between her and everyone else down your throat too. I think it worked moderately well, even though not much happened – the action should kick off in the next chapter – so I hope you all continue reading after this. I'm desperately trying to make my characters believable but I'm worried they come off as boring; they seemed to take centre stage in this thing too...gaah! First chapters, are you normally this tricky?_

'_Till next time! _

_-Rai._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note in any; way, shape or form.**


	2. Lead the way

"_I should have stayed in bed this morning, shouldn't I?" I felt worry distil in my stomach as I looked toward the area that I knew Mello sat and I was surprised to see he was already returning my gaze. He gave me a simple nod paired with a smirk and then snapped his head to Matt, momentarily distracted from the conversation he was having._

_I gathered something from this gesture; at least Mello didn't think I was a 'complete dumbass.'_

––––

**Chapter Two / May 2003**

'Lead the way.'

Some of the lower ranking students gave up – providing they weren't paired with someone higher – without even listening to the first challenge. In all honesty, there was no wondering why they weren't regarded with much respect by others. During the time that everyone was calming down and Roger was preparing to begin talking once again, Mello and Matt had worked their way over us. Matt plonked himself in the seat next to me while Mello sat on the table; looking sideways towards the old man.

"I would like to thank you all for the display of maturity during that process," Roger genuinely seemed pleased; he'd probably expected everyone to kick off, though most of the children that would be willing to cause trouble had long since gone. "First, I ask that one person from every pair to follow Mr Swift to the grounds outside."

I heard chair legs scraping across the wooden floors and mumbles from students informing their partners that they would be going. I looked to my partner; somewhat confused as to why one of us had to go. He looked back at me and offered a casual shrug – silently nominating himself by standing up and following the crowing crowd. I looked to Matt, ready to ask if he was going too, when I was cut off by Combo. "You stay here, I will go."

Matt didn't need to be told twice, "Alright."

I wasn't surprised that Combo seemed to have decided that he was the one in command out of the two as it was usually a position that he liked to fill. Matt was looking longingly at his handheld game which he had switched off once Roger had began to talk; the fact that it was off at all was an indication that he was interested. I never pinned Matt as the type of person to be excited by such events; but I guess it compelled to his game-induced competitiveness.

"Today those of you here will be tested on your ability to co-operate and trust those you are working with." Mary seemed to be taking over the explanation as Roger's slow speech was really beginning to irk the impatient ones in the room. "You in here will be lead to the maze in the gardens where you will be provided with an earpiece to communicate with your teammate."

Upon having everything explained to us, we began to migrate to our destination. The challenge seemed simple enough – our partners had already entered the maze and were racing to the middle to pick up their own earpiece, which would allow them to get in touch with us. From there we were instructed to meet our partner and exit on the other side. Trivial really; especially for the geniuses in Wammy's. The only thing that made me even remotely worried was the fact that only the first ten pairs would move on to the next round; this was probably an attempt to remove any remaining uncooperative people. I didn't know Mello well at all and the fact that I'd never seen him in action put me off. I was so used to following Combo's instruction and keeping track of his own train of thought, that if I had to act on my own (I didn't think that was a strong possibility considering Mello was second in line to L), made me panic.

It was still raining outside – I can't say I was pleased about that – so the ground would be muddy and slippery. I briefly wondered if Combo had thought to pick up his coat before he left but I received my answer when I saw it hung up beside mine. I sighed at his over-eagerness and forced my foot into my wellington, I can imagine that I looked very elegant at that moment. It crossed my mind to pick up the piece of clothing in the event that I saw him but opted to carry a long black jacket instead.

"Hurry up." Matt interrupted the mental curses that I directed at my feet and I soon realised everyone had left already.

I huffed – hopping forward and successfully managing slip my heel into its place and pulled my hood over my head. "Sorry I took so long. Thanks for waiting."

He nodded before sluggishly catching up with everyone else, they hadn't started yet thankfully but I imagine if I had taken any longer that I would have missed the beginning. It didn't take me too long to get ready; quickly wrapping the jacket around my waist and slipping the earpiece into place.

"Everyone, you may turn on your communication devices now. If you do not receive a response then it means you will have to wait longer to talk to your partner, however, you are still permitted to enter the maze at any time." Mary still seemed to be announcing – I think I remembered seeing Roger slip into his warm and dry office at some point. Every device must have been activated at exactly that moment because there was a hell of a lot of movement in my peripheral vision.

"Robin, you there?" The voice made me jump; I hadn't expected him to speak so soon.

"Ah, yeah. We're just about to be let in."

"I'm currently still in the centre, there are three others too but no one else has gotten here yet."

I absentmindedly tightened the black material around me as I replied, "What do you think would be the best plan of action for meeting up? We could both head for the exit or something?"

"No, that would probably just be more complicated." I was comforted by how certain he sounded. "The best thing to do would be to catch up to me around the centre and then both travel out, that way we won't be too far apart."

I looked to Matt for a second as the whistle was blown to signal our start; he seemed ready to give up. Combo was probably yelling down his ear already. I lagged behind a little as everyone else rushed forwards; wanting to be the first to enter.

I snorted as I watched them, "Some idiots are running in without having any contact from their partners, don't they realise that they're just going to make it harder for themselves?" I could have sworn I heard a brief chuckle as I complained.

"I can explain where I went for the first few minutes, but after that I can't remember." I made a grunt of understanding and finally took off into the entrance. "When you enter, take the first left. There should be a long stretch – it looks as though it's a dead end but you can actually turn right at the bottom. That's why most of the others went right."

I did as he said and was surprised that he went down there in the first place; I wouldn't have even considered it. Although, as I got to the bottom I noted why – it wasn't so much a path as a gap in the bushes. Did he just squeeze his way through? Begrudgingly I side-stepped to a new opening, only being pulled a little by the short branches that hooked into my coat.

"Are we even allowed to cut through like this?" I complained through the device.

"They didn't say anything against it." He paused as though waiting for me to fully get through. "Are you done?"

"Mhmm!"

"You've pretty much skipped most of the trouble; keep going forward until you get to the third path on the left. There's another left turn as soon as you go down it – it's a much narrower passage but don't get put off by it." His way of instructing was a lot like Combo's; clear and concise. I thanked the God's for my luck with this guy.

I did as he said, running as fast as I could the whole time. I think he'd downplayed the narrowness of this new passage as it was just as small as the last squeeze. "Did you just spend the whole time shuffling through small spaces?"

"It got me to the centre, didn't it?" His response was snarky. "Anyway, from here on out you're on your own. I tried so many different paths that I don't remember where I actually went."

"Helpful," I said dryly. "What does the centre look like anyway? Are there any other ways to get out of there?" I was nearing the end of the second awkward side shuffle of the day, glad that there probably wouldn't be any more of that.

"No. There's just the way that I got through." Well damn.

"Well could you at least go back as far as you can? It'll make the whole process much easier for me."

"I managed to do it by myself. It shouldn't be that difficult."

I groaned at his comeback, there really wasn't a need to take it as a personal insult. "That's beside the point though. We're working as a team."

One of the younger children ran past me at that moment, judging by how soaked their hair and clothes were, they were with the first to come into the maze. I watched them subtly – noting how they ignored certain passages – they were probably routes they'd already tried. I had to suppress a smirk though as they slipped in a large pile of mud, falling onto their back. They sat up fine without a word, so I didn't see a need to go check on them; they'd be fine.

"Just do it, okay?" Mello commanded through my ear.

I frowned as I ran, a little wearier than before after seeing the effects of the rain on the ground, straight past the openings I saw the child ignore. "Why are you being so difficult? Just retrace your steps for God's sake. If you're out in the open then I'm more likely to see you and it will save time from trial and error."

It was silent for a few minutes on the other end – I half wondered if he'd turned off the earpiece and was just waiting for me. I powered on, coming back to the same path with the skid mark imprinted on the floor more than once before I eventually came to a new clearing. I allowed myself to catch my breath and looked around – the space was protected by a canopy so there was no need to keep my hood up – there were four members of staff all situated around tables with electronic equipment placed on them. It was when I saw Combo wave to me from the far side that I realised where I was. The place that Mello was _supposed _to be. I offered my best friend the same gesture before walking back out of the place I came from; he must have done as I suggested and made his way back...

"Mello?" I spoke softly to the blonde. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah." Was his harsher reply.

"Where did you go? You were supposed to be here! I got to the middle!" I snapped at him, looking in the three directions in front of me, with no idea where I was supposed to be going.

"Don't get pissy with me. You said to retrace my steps; so I did."

"You didn't reply though! How was I supposed to know?" I questioned him before realising that any argument would be pointless. "Look, just direct me to where you are now."

I heard footsteps to my right; turning to see the source, I was greeted with the image of a wet Mello. "No need." He switched off his earpiece before pocketing it, out of the way.

I copied his motion and released a slight laugh at his expense, "Didn't think to grab your coat?"

"I didn't think I'd need one." He half glared at me – the guy really didn't like feeling a fool.

"No worries. Here," I unwrapped the black coat from around my waist, feeling a slight chill upon doing so and held it out to him. "Matt told me which one was yours; I figured you'd need it."

Even though it wouldn't have much of a purpose now other than to prevent any more moisture from sinking into his clothes, he took it from me anyway. Offering a mumble of gratitude that made me smile, he walked past me and to the left. This maze seemed to favour them. We travelled in silence for a while; it was a little uncomfortable, I didn't really know what to say to him because he did not seem like the type for small talk. I noted the fact that the rain had slowed significantly; the change was very welcomed and made the whole ordeal that less difficult. I occasionally skidded along when we hit a particularly muddy section which funnily enough became quite useful; we could tell if we'd been somewhere before due to the carvings I left in the floor.

Mello stopped mid-run, picking up a long stick from under the hedges. "What's that for?"

"We can mark off places we've turned," he explained. "This is taking _way _too long for my liking."

"Am I really that bad?" I joked as he caught up to me. The look he gave pretty much screamed that I did not want to know the answer to the question.

We made the next right, purely because it seemed less treacherous than any of the other possible routes that were in front of us. There were muddy footprints which had created dips and holes in the ground, making it uneven – thinking about it, I hadn't actually seen many other students; it was kind of weird.

"How long have we been in here anyway?" I dared to ask.

Mello looked up towards the sky; squinting slightly as raindrops fell on his cheek, just avoiding his eyes. The sun was covered by a thick layer of grey cloud with no intent of coming out at any time soon. "I'd say I've been here for an hour." He finished his sentence by etching a cross into the ground, "So for you…roughly forty-five minutes."

Huffing, I started walking beside my companion, dragging my wellies along the floor. "I'm so bored. We've been going in circles for ages!"

"No we haven't; I'd have noticed by now."

"Well why is it taking so long? Surely the grounds don't have enough space for something this complicated." I could tell I was being annoying but I didn't care.

A familiar voice came from the direction we were headed and it was once we turned yet _another_ corner that we discovered who it was from. "Quit your whining; it'll be over soon."

I saw Matt smirking at the two of us – looking a lot dryer and less muddy than myself. He seemed relaxed; his hands in his pockets and walking very slowly.

"Matt!" I yelped and ran towards him. "How're you doing?"

"Slow progress – you know." He replied, nudging me with his elbow. "I just found the exit, making my way to Combo now."

I nodded in understanding; knowing Combo, he'd probably told Matt to find the exit then lead him to it. All the while he could stay warm and dry.

"Where's your partner?" Mello asked and joined us to form a small circle.

"Still waiting for me; he gave me explicit instruction to find where we were going first and then to find him. In the end he got really annoying; so I switched this baby off." Matt laughed and moved his arm, tapping his earpiece a couple of times before putting his hand back to its previous position. "Seriously Robin, how do you deal with him?"

It was typical of Combo to be overbearing and a control freak – but that was just his nature. I wondered if the many years I'd spent by his side had caused me to become immune to such characteristics or if by obeying his every slight whim on a case; that I had encouraged them. To me it didn't seem like such a big deal though, after all, in the long run it would be me putting up with such behaviour and no one else. I shrugged and took the large stick from Mello's hands, he kept a firm grip at first but then reluctantly let it go. "At any rate we should get going – you never know where Near is." Mello watched me draw in the floor as he spoke.

"Good luck Mel! Nearly there!" Matt called as he trekked off in the direction that we came from.

"You too." The other boy yelled back.

I took the next left I saw without waiting for instruction from Mello; copying his earlier action by marking the floor. This next left showed a long stretch of bushes; a lot longer than any other I had seen up to then in the maze – the floor only showed three sets of footprints, actually I noted that there had been less and less of these in the last bit of our journey. At that moment Matt's offhand 'nearly there' comment clicked in my mind, were we close? I ran forward – dropping the heavy stick for the blonde to pick up – praying that I didn't fall on my ass. Once again on the left was an archway made of trees; however this particular archway opened up a very different sight to what I had become accustomed to. "Mello!"

He briskly caught up to me, sensing the urgency in my voice, "I think we found the exit."

I marched out onto even ground and took in the sight in front of me; the back entrance of the building was wide open for anyone who had finished, a couple of members of staff were stood by tables with stop-watches to note down the time and names of anyone who had finished. It was so beautiful (well, besides the sudden freezing wind that was able to hit us now that we were out in the open), I honestly had thought that this whole task would have been dead simple; obviously I hadn't planned on it being so boring for the senses. Mello walked over to one of the desks in order to give them our names – the smirk on his face only disappearing after being there for a few minutes. I, on the other hand, grabbed a hot cup of coffee inside the building. I would have gotten one for Mello but I had no idea whether he even liked them and at that moment he joined me inside.

"Hey. You want a drink? The coffee is really nice and warm." I asked politely, holding the boiling drink in one hand while removing my drenched coat with the other.

It was then that I noticed the angry look upon his face as he brushed past me; causing me to spill a little on my shirt. "Ah! What the hell? Be more careful!"

He didn't seem to care much for the burning sensation that I now felt and instead insisted on ignoring me and skulking out – probably to his room to change into dry clothes. What was his problem? I blew on my drink in a feeble attempt to cool it down; taking a small sip as the male that Mello spoke to approached me.

"Congratulations, Robin! A splendid time! The two of you made it back in seventy minutes – what a brilliant feat!" I smiled at the praise he gave me and nodded.

"Thank you very much, sir!"

He smiled back – this old guy seemed lovely, I was slightly disappointed that I'd never seen him around before. "Yes, you were the second team to make it to the end. We're wondering if we should start bringing the little ones back ourselves, it is getting very damp, after all."

"Oh…" I thought I understood. "Sorry, but was Near the first back by any chance?"

The man squinted down at his paper, taking in the name on the list. "Yes, he was! Along with little Jay – they're such a lovely pair."

"Thank you." I said again, "I'm going to get changed now, if that's okay – there's mud all over me." I beckoned down to the splashes of the brown stuff that had risen far beyond my feet and blanketed the backs of my legs. He laughed at my attire and nodded, after exchanging pleasant goodbyes I wandered to my quarters.

––––

It was half an hour later before the rain came to a complete stop; I wondered if some of the students were still in the maze or if they had been taken out. Stretching in my now warm and clean clothes, I stood up – I was headed to Combo's room to see if he was back yet, though there was no doubt in my mind that he was. In honesty I felt quite bad for Mello – every time that he thought he'd gotten one up on the white haired boy, he was shot down again. I couldn't imagine how frustrating a life like that would be – I doubted that I would have had the will to keep trying. The walk to the room was a familiar one; after all it was a trip that I made almost daily, though I embarrassingly admit that I hadn't really taken in any of the ornaments or decorations around at all. I was such an attentive soul. His door was shut and I could hear the soft trickle of the shower inside; he was back and getting sorted. Normally I would have just let myself in and waited until he was done for the two of us to go to our favourite sitting room, but at that moment I just wanted to lie around and relax. Matt and Mello's room was the same, the faint running of water being the only response I got to my knocks.

Combo and I usually spent our Saturday evenings in the sitting room to the far left of the large orphanage; this was mostly due to the fact that it tended to be the one that was out of the way and undisturbed by the younger children. I disliked them with a much fierier intensity, Combo liked their company and would often spend time reading to them or playing with them. I didn't know how he put up with it – but then again I'm easily irritated. Combo has one of those complex personalities; you'd expect him to aggravate you, rub you up the wrong way, but he always knew when to stop. I couldn't remember a time when I'd been seriously angry at him because he'd always worm his way out of it; I was thankful though, because I hated myself after an outburst.

Before I knew it I had arrived at the large oak doors to my preferred room, due to the fact that it was severally overcast, it was quite dark – the royal blue's of the curtains and chairs seemed a lot deeper than usual. I stumbled inside; about ready to collapse and go to sleep despite the fact that it was only midday; however I was surprised to see a figure in my usual spot. His blonde hair glowed due to the bright yellow flames in front of him; his back was hunched forward as he watched them dance. Mello still seemed to be down from earlier today and I wondered just how long he usually sulks for; Matt always seemed to leave him be when he was like this. Not wanting to disturb him, I moved forward, taking a seat relatively close to him and leaning back on one of the mahogany tables. Although he did not say anything to me, I could tell he at least noticed my presence; he looked toward me slightly and then returned back to his previous activity.

Staring out of the window I unconsciously pulled my jacket closer towards myself; I could see a few leaves being blown around and the whistle of the wind against the window seemed to grow louder. This was a place that made me feel safe – the plethora of antiques, old style lamps, wooden walls and the brilliant roaring fire gave an oddly comforting atmosphere. I sighed and joined Mello in watching the crackling flames; enjoying the peace until my loudmouthed friend would interrupt.

"I like listening to the wind." I heard faintly. I wasn't entirely sure if he'd spoken at all; maybe I'd imagined it.

"Hm?"

"Sitting next to the fire and listening to the horrible weather outside. It's nice." He mumbled; obviously trying to ease some form of tension that he felt.

I grinned and nodded, still not taking my eyes away from the fire. "It is."

Then it was silent again; I was mentally thanking Mello for at least making an effort with me, it was surprising how much I seemed to value his approval. Not a good sign. I took a sneak peak towards him from the corner of my eye, his hair was still slightly damp from earlier, and it looked as though he had not bothered trying to dry it. His fingers were laced together, his thumb running alongside one of the others to comfort himself – the slight frown on his features suggested he wasn't in the happiest of moods still. That was when the guilt kicked in.

"Mello...I'm sorry about the task." I said earnestly, he gave me his full attention – facing me fully now. "I should have just done as you said straight away rather than making you wander off – we'd have probably saved time otherwise." I felt stupid, honestly. When I thought about it, I did a lot to slow him down; complaining about meeting in the middle, stopping to walk every now and again due to my weariness of the ground, turning down ways I had already been down in the hope that they may actually hold the real path and stopping to talk to Matt... To some people it may have seemed trivial but in the end it all added up, Near may have only beaten the two of us by a couple of minutes (though I did not know this for a fact), and it could have all been down to my insubordinate behaviour.

He didn't seem to respond very much to my apology; probably assessing what would be the best response to give. However, before a word could escape his opened mouth he was cut off.

"Found you Robbie!" Combo burst into the room, full of all the vigour that I seemed to lack. "I went up to your room but you were not there. Did you not want to wait for me today?"

"I just wanted to come down here straight away, sorry Combo." I shuffled closer to Mello to make space for the brunette on the other side of me.

"It is okay. Today was quite interesting, don't you think?" He took the space straight away and as usual, hooked is arm over my shoulder, snuggling close to me. "You are so warm!"

"And you're wet!" He grinned and I realised what he was thinking. Disgusting.

Suddenly I felt very conscious of the blonde beside me; the rambunctious personality of the boy that had just entered would surely disturb him from his relaxation. I was about to say something to him when Combo cut in _again._

"Hey, Mello! How did the two of you get on today?"

Mello didn't seem to listen and ignored him; I guessed that the dislike between Matt, Mello and Combo was very much a mutual thing. Combo however, didn't seem very pleased with this response and pressed the matter further.

"Did you beat Near by any chance?" He tried to coax an answer from the boy beside me and as I expected, got no response once again.

I took it upon myself to answer for the both of us; the slightest bit pleased by the fact that Combo was making an effort to be friendly, "Actually we came second." I hoped that wouldn't jab a sore spot with Mello. "It took us 70 minutes."

Combo whistled and smiled gleefully, "It took gamer-boy and I 93. You two did very well." He leaned around me, once again addressing Mello. "Are you okay with losing to Near? I suppose that you have the other two challenges that are coming up..."

I wanted to rub my forehead due to his downright obliviousness – no – stupidity, feeling the temperature in the room start to rise, but he continued;

"I am guessing it was Robin here that slowed the two of you down! I saw her come into the centre of the maze after you had left," he turned his attention to me by squeezing one of my cheeks. "Was she not following orders? Robin, you cost this guy his win. Naughty." I knew that he was only joking and didn't mean to upset me but that fact didn't stop the twisting feeling in my stomach.

"Hey!" I cried, pushing his hand away from my face.

"It wasn't her fault; it was one of those things." Mello finally offered us some form of acknowledgement. "It couldn't be helped."

To say I was shocked was an understatement – was this Mello's way of saying that it was alright? That I didn't need to feel bad about the two of us losing to the younger pair? I forced myself to believe that it was due to the fact that he wanted Combo to be quiet about it more than anything; I'd be more than embarrassed if I took it the wrong way.

"At any rate, I'm going elsewhere. See you around." He directed the last statement at me and swiftly exited the room; I watched his back until it was completely out of view.

Combo took this opportunity to rush to the spot that Mello previously occupied, laying back to stare at the ceiling. "The two of them – Mello and Matt – they are very strange." He scrunched up his face as he said it.

I looked to him and nodded, poking his cheek. "I guess they are, but they seem nice enough..."

"Now that I think about it," he pouted in my direction. "Can I sleep in your room again? I have not spent much time with you lately!"

I rolled my eyes, "It's been a day and no doubt we'll be together until bed time."

"No, no! Not enough!" He shook his head and decided that he had won the discussion. All I could really do was offer a slight smile and give in.

I was such a push over with this guy.

––––

_A/N: Hurray! So part chapter two is done, this one was a little more of a pain than the first thought that was mainly because of the explanation of the task (which I ended up just cutting out and summarizing through Robin). Other than that it was fun – I had exams on Hamlet last week so it was a nice break from studying and I was even happier that I was tested on a scene I know well. _

_I'm hoping to put in a bit of history soon and actually begin moving on to the main bits, yay! Sometimes I wonder if I should have started further along in terms of the timeline and then referenced back to times at Wammy's house. This next section of the task is going to kill me, I can feel it. I don't know if I should regret making this a tournament; even though there's an important point to it...Ah well, I'm still loving it so far, let's hope it keeps going that way._

_I thought today (February 2__nd__) would be a good day to post this chapter as it's between both Matt and my OC Robin's birthdays. Happy Birthday to you two! Really, that was the only reason I pushed myself to finish today, otherwise it would have probably been up next Monday or at the earliest, this weekend. One other thing that made it quicker was the ambient 'Wind and fire' I had on a loop; it really made me feel snugly and warm to write the end – hence why the setting was how it was._

_**Limegreenwordmachine: **__Thank you for your kind words; I agree I need to add a bit more depth to the two but I'm trying to do it gradually. We'll see how it goes. _

_I hope to hear what you guys thought of it! Thank you for reading.~_

'_Till next time!_

_-Rai._

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note in any form or way, sadly.**


	3. Crash and burn

_"Now that I think about it," he pouted in my direction. "Can I sleep in your room again? I have not spent much time with you lately!"_

_I rolled my eyes, "It's been a day and no doubt we'll be together until bed time."_

_"No, no! Not enough!" He shook his head and decided that he had won the discussion. All I could really do was offer a slight smile and give in._

_I was such a push over with this guy._

––––

**Chapter Three / May 2003**

'Crash and burn.'

The two of us sat there for a few hours; joking and chatting away as usual for us. As it began to draw closer to the afternoon though, things got relatively boring – I had resorted to retrieving one of the older books from the large selection around us whereas Combo had used them as a pillow. The fire had been put out a little while ago, as we both got too warm and the windows had streamed up completely, now the only sound that could be heard was the faint yelling of children from down the hall and Combo's breathing as he drifted in and out of consciousness. I eyed him curiously; he wasn't one for naps so this was odd behaviour.

"Are you okay? You look about ready to drop off." I brushed some of his lengthy hair from his face and he forced his eyes open slightly to look at me.

"I am really tired." He groaned out and snuggled further into the floor.

I nudged him with my foot, "Go to bed then."

"No! I am up! I am up!" He protested and pushed himself into an upright position; he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned. "If I sleep now I will not be able to later, anyway."

Once he had fully woken himself up again, he suggested that we go play with the younger children; I didn't protest but I knew that I wouldn't be joining him in the activity, so I made sure to cling on to the book that I was holding. He practically sprinted to the largest play room – the place he said we were most likely to find people – eager to socialize some more.

The playroom (which was more commonly known as _the crèche_ to the residents), was a complete contrast to the rest of the house; it lacked the bold wood and elegant colours. Instead it was a strange mess of everything; vibrantly coloured bean-bags, paintings by kids scattered across the wall and a large blanket of various toys covered the floor. Being in the room for too long could easily give someone a migraine, especially seeing as the children weren't exactly quiet. However, I put up with it as the look of pure joy on Combo's face whenever he entered made me happy; it resembled what you'd expect a three year old receiving an amazing bicycle for their birthday to look like.

"Easy tiger!" I warned, grabbing the back of Combo's collar as he tried to dive towards two innocently playing girls. "We don't want to give anyone nightmares."

He pouted and wriggled – his best attempt at getting away. "I am not going to! Just look how cute they are!"

I laughed. "Someday somebody is going to get the wrong idea about you."

Combo eventually managed to squirm out of my grasp and join the children in the room, roaring a 'hello' in the process. I slumped behind him; sitting far enough away from him so that he wouldn't easily get me involved but at a reasonable distance to keep up a conversation if needed. The two girls giggled as he sat between them; picking up one of the female dolls and putting on a squeaky voice. Combo was regarded as a big brother figure to many of the younger ones in the house – he'd play with them when they were lonely, cheer them up when they'd scraped a knee or hit their elbow… It was something that I wished I was born with; it would save me from the amount of stress that children have always caused me. I definitely wasn't a maternal person. Even though this trait of his saw me sat with the things I disliked quite a bit, I couldn't help but nurture my friend's quality – it was, after all, the reason that the two of us became so close.

I had planned on reading my book but once I noted the high volume in the room, I knew that there was no chance of that. Putting the object on one of the tables, I addressed Combo. "So what are you playing?"

"We're playing families! I'm the mummy doll and Combo is my daughter!" Instead of the brunette replying, I was met with the sickly sweet voice of a small blonde; who was currently changing her doll from a green dress to a blazing red one, riddled with bows and ribbons. She giggled some more and tried to make her voice sound strict as she turned her doll towards Combo's, "I've already told you Missy! No ice cream before bed!"

I fought the urge to twitch and sigh at this action, in opposition to Combo; who had to refrain from swiping her and cuddling her close.

"You are _so _cute Hannah!" He practically cried, leaning forward to pet her head.

"No, no, no! We're supposed to be in character! You're ruining the flow!" This little girl had him eating out the palm of her hand.

"Ah – I am sorry." He returned to his girly voice, "But mother! You said that if I behaved, I could have some!"

The conversation continued in that manner; playing out a not so typical family scene in a dramatic fashion. I let myself zone out and observe the room around me – there wasn't anything of interest around, everyone seemed to be doing the same thing; making lots of noise, playing pointlessly and such. Some days I had wondered why I'd never seen the infamous Near in one of these rooms, as he was rumoured to be always induced with some toy or another; I guess he didn't like the noise either. It's a shame; it would be nice to try and get to know him, talking to Mello seemed less daunting after every meeting; I decided that forcing myself to be more social and less judging would be a good idea. There were two other playrooms in the house – one was next to the kitchens, which would probably be quite busy as kids would hang about in there until dinner was ready, while the other was joined on to the library. After an argument with myself I decided upon seeking out the elusive boy; there was nothing more to do here anyway and on the chance that he wasn't there, I could always just settle down and read.

"Hey, Combo. I'm going to the library – there's nothing to do here." I informed him; collecting my book and heading out.

"What? No!" I heard him whine. "Stop ditching me."

I laughed and shook my head; he was high maintenance, that's for sure. Even though he complained, he made no attempt to catch up to me and was instead forced back into character when an irritated girl told him it was his turn to speak.

As I suspected, I couldn't find Near anywhere in the playroom upstairs. I couldn't remember seeing him in a good few weeks, actually; everyone else would talk about him being around often but I'd never notice. I sighed and threw myself upon one of the old sofas in the room – it was pretty empty, unsurprisingly – so relaxing would be easy. I stretched out on it; my legs dangling over the arm with my book propped up in the air. It was like that for a while, the book fully engrossing me and taking me away from reality. It wasn't often that I got moments such as that – being in an orphanage would do that – it was hard to find a place where no one else was occupying.

"I didn't expect to find you here." I heard from behind my head as the light was blocked from shining on my book. I tilted my head back curiously and took in Mello's raised eyebrow and the pile of books under his arm before sitting up to address him.

"And why is that?"

He placed the books on a desk nearby, readying his pencil and notebook for studying – I assumed. "I saw Combo headed towards your room with armfuls of food and junk. The two of you are always together; I thought you would be waiting for him."

"Nah, I've been here reading." I placed my bookmark back in and readied myself to leave.

"Don't go on my account." Mello sat on his chair seeming displeased with my movement.

I gave an uncomfortable smile, still wondering why he defended me earlier. "It's about time I headed down for dinner. I need to go anyway."

He looked confused for a minute – sparing a glance at his watch. "But the hall closed half an hour ago."

"Well damn." Placing a hand on my stomach I started to mentally curse my bad luck before I realised what the blonde had mentioned earlier. "Wait, you said that Combo was carrying food, right?"

He'd begun scribbling down notes from a book, not bothering to look back at me as he replied, "Yeah. Sandwiches, fruit, crisps…all that stuff."

Trust Combo to remember that I needed to eat even if I didn't. "It'll be like feeding time at the zoo when I catch up to him then. Thanks."

He let out a noise that indicated he acknowledged me and resumed his work – I felt somewhat awkward just leaving then, seeing as our conversation was so brief but I didn't want to disturb him. Instead I settled for glancing over his page as I walked past him, "You're studying?"

He looked up at me, obviously irritated at me reading over his shoulder. "What of it?"

"Nothing, it's just that we don't start looking into this stuff until next term." I motioned my hands in the direction of his stash of philosophy books.

"I'm reading ahead, doing it this way will give me plenty of time to learn it before then."

"Do you want a study buddy?" I was about to leave at that point rather than be a nuisance but I gave him the offer with the expectation that he would say no.

He considered it for a second, "Whatever. Do what you want." If he hadn't moved the book into the centre of the desk I would have thought that he was telling me to leave in a polite way. Now it seemed as though he actually wanted the company but didn't want to admit it. I cautiously took the seat next to him and observed what we were doing – in essence studying this early was pointless for me, I only needed to scan the page the night before an exam to remember the major details.

"Okay, where are you up to?"

He tapped the page with the rubber of his pencil, on a section which consisted of masses of text and a few coloured drawings. "I'm looking at Brian Davies' thoughts first."

"He says that you can't understand what something is, by saying what it isn't?" I leaned over to look closer at the pages – scanning them for any useful points. "That doesn't make any sense."

"He means it in the sense that you can't describe God negatively." Noticing the confused look on my face, he continued. "Okay, let's do it this way. I'm thinking of an object in this room – I'll tell you a list of qualities that it isn't and you have to tell me what it is."

I nodded, actually rather interested. "Sure."

He looked around quickly before looking me in the eyes, his vision never once roaming. "It isn't fluffy, it isn't green, it can't be eaten and it doesn't breathe."

"What?" I searched the surrounding area for any clue. "Is it a book?"

He shook his head and lifted the pencil that he was holding – it was a little bit of a trick seeing as he'd made a point to look dramatically around the room. "Basically, Brian Davis is suggesting that by saying what God isn't; you're never getting any closer to what God actually is."

"I'll try. Uhh, it isn't cold, it isn't made of wood and it can't be read."

He thought for a moment before smirking, "Is it me?"

"God damn!" I shouted, throwing my hands onto my lap. "How did you do that? I thought the point was that you couldn't tell what it was."

"There are a limited number of things in here; most of which are inanimate or made of wood. Your suggestions left either me or the radiator – I made the right guess."

I rolled my eyes at his logic, "Still, it's a pretty random theory to spurt out, isn't it?"

"It was in reply to another philosopher, actually." He peeked down at his notes. "His name was Maimonides." I was surprised by how neat and tidy Mello's notes were – he seemed like the type of person that would just scribble down things as quickly as possible and disregard making it legible for everyone else.

"I can tell this subject is just going to irritate me." I said and flicked at one of the pages in the book, making it fly up and then flutter back into place again. "I'm going to have to read more just to catch up to you."

"That's no problem, I can summarize." He pulled out one of his older sheets from a couple of pages back in the large book. Although I was happy that he seemed to be warming to me; I groaned at the prospect of learning on a weekend. This in turn, caused him to send me a light glare. "If you don't want to learn then why did you offer to sit here and work through it with me?"

"I was just being polite."

He closed the book between the two of us and put it back onto the pile of the others next to him, "You shouldn't offer to do things if you don't want to; it's stupid. Honestly, it's not like I need any favours – I can't say that I particularly desire your presence either."

I stood up and straightened up my blouse, "I never said that you did – I just want to get to know you a little better; especially if we're in this tournament thing together. Sorry if I've wasted your time." I could see him begin to speak but I stopped him, "Don't worry, I'm not doing you any favours – I'm not trying to dot his just to help you beat Near; I just like the prospect of meeting L."

"I wasn't going to say that."

I shrugged and walked away towards my room – my stomach had been screaming at me to get dinner for a while but I'd ignored it. I was annoyed with myself for being so awkward; it seemed that the two of us were getting along well. It was only when I heard his faint voice as I left the room that my stride faltered. "Night." I didn't turn around but called his sentiment back to him; continuing in the direction that Combo was last seen.

––––

I woke up to the loud snore of my companion at eight in the morning – I was making a horrible habit of getting up early. It seems I'd been woken in time for the person outside knocking on my door forcefully.

"Get up. You'll need to eat before we go into round two." I heard Matt say from the other side. "You missed dinner last night, didn't you?"

When I had entered my room that night I was greeted with the image of Combo fast asleep in his sleeping bag – various skins of fruits scattered all over my once clean floor. I noted that he'd put a ham sandwich and crisps on my bed for me, the lack of any healthy food lead me to believe that he'd assisted me with eating them. Really, I had eaten, but not as much as I would have liked; considering I spent a majority of my day running around in the rain.

"I won't be long. Thank you Matt!" I yelled back to him and hopped out of bed. I didn't get a response, most likely because he knew Mello was waiting impatiently for him somewhere. I looked over at the orange lump on my floor and kneeled down next to it. "Hey sleepy head, it's time to wake up."

His bleary eyes shot open, seemingly startled by being woken up so suddenly. "¿Que?"

"Come on, you big lump." I nudged him with my foot, putting his use of the wrong language down to his sleepiness. "We need to get some breakfast."

He groaned and rolled back over, shuffling further into the bed. I frowned and nudged him again; it wasn't like Combo to be like this, he was typically a morning person and was the one doing this to me. "If you don't get up then I'll throw a cup of water on your face."

He sat up at that, "Why are you so mean to me? You did not come back until late last night; you bookworm! I was on my own!"

I moved into my bathroom and changed into my clothes and doing my usual routine. I would always get changed in here and wait until Combo was finished changing in my room when he stayed over. "Actually, I was back at seven – that isn't too late. You were already asleep on the floor – has Matt been playing his games loudly again? You've been very sleepy lately…" The lack of response from him made me change the topic, "Thank you for dinner by the way; I got distracted in the library."

"See! You _are_ a bookworm."

"Shut up." I leaned my back against the bathroom door and heard the boy stumble around in my room. "You okay in there?"

"I just have a headache and it is making me a little dizzy. It will be fine once I am fully up."

I made a note to ask someone for Paracetamol for him at some point if it persisted. The tapped the door, signalling that it was okay for me to come out – though I was a little worried when I did. The tanned skin looked a little paler than usual next to his orange shirt – he was rubbing under his eyes tiredly while squinting, probably due to his headache.

"Combo, if you're ill then we can take you back down to you room and I can get the nurse." I offered, walking over to him and wrapping my arm around his side. "You look like death."

"Death must be very sexy, then." He managed to yawn out before laying his cheek on the top of my head. "Besides, I am fine. I must have eaten too much before sleeping." I didn't particularly believe him but I let it go regardless.

The morning routine was the usual – Combo and I would eat together; I'd have some form of meat with ketchup whereas he would pile his bowl with fruit. The kids would run around, making messes on the floor which the cleaners would grumble about – the usual.

"You know, you should really eat more meat. It's probably why you're looking so lanky lately." I joked, prodding the guy next to me. "Protein! It should be us girls that are finicky about eating healthy."

He broke off a piece of his banana, "I like fruit. It makes me feel healthy – plus it is tasty." He popped it into his mouth and savoured every last bit before holding out another section for me, which I declined. "And what do you mean _lanky_?" Rolling up his short sleeves, he flexed his muscles (or lack thereof), in my direction.

"I'm sorry; you're a regular Greek God." I droned, picking up the bits of peel Combo had left lying around and placing them onto my plate. "But you're a messy one, at that."

After the last challenge ten teams had proceeded through the staff were planning on waiting to let the rest of the students come out in their own time but with the rain and the increasingly unsafe ground, they brought them in. Pretty much all of the groups consisted of the top students at Wammy's; the only exception being two girls who I knew were on a football team together, so they were athletic and knew each other well to begin with. Those of us who would be taking part in the next section were all informed over breakfast that we would need to be outside the main entrance at ten and that we would be responsible for ourselves if we were late. I was considering complaining about the venue until the sun had decided to make an appearance at around nine o'clock – most of the puddles had evaporated and being outdoors just looked more appealing in general. In fact, I'd spent the last hour remaining laid in the sun with Combo chattering away to me, I was half aware of Matt and Mello joining us at some point – Matt opting to sit under a tree so that he could see the screen of his game. It was a surprise that both Combo and Matt were addressing each other politely, it seemed as though the conversation (forced upon the redhead by Combo), had created some form of common ground between them. Mello on the other hand was just watching the sky – no doubt enjoying the heat on his skin.

"Ay, Matt. Come on and sit with us, you could use a tan! It would suit you." Combo stroked the patch of grass near him, his head resting upon his other arm. "Even Mello is doing it."

Matt looked up from his game to his milk bottle arms and then to us, seemingly unimpressed with the prospect. "I already have one…"

"The nerd tan from your computer screen doesn't count." I laughed, joining in with Combo's stroking. Mello stared at the two of us, trying to hold back a smile at my comment while Matt switched off his game – fully giving in and stepping into the sunshine. "I was half expecting you to crumble into a pile of dust then."

Matt made a hissing sound and fell into the space between the three of us rather dramatically. "Not the sun!"

"If you burn, I'm not going to be the one helping you with aftersun." Mello piped in, amused by the spectacle.

"I will do it!" Combo offered, lifting his hand – Matt blanched, not really liking the idea.

I was content – the four of us peacefully enjoying our early teenage years in the sun; it was nice to see my friends opening up to each other. We continued to relax until the chatter of other children around us had made it difficult for a quiet conversation; granted it was nothing like the loud chaos from when the challenge had been set, but it didn't prevent my irritation. What annoyed me more was how late Roger was joining us. He appeared hurried in explaining everything to us and then returning into the cooler building; I wondered if he could ever stand any form of weather considering it always seemed to be an issue. Basically, we were told that we would have to find our own way to the finish following a set of clues given to us and face whatever challenges appeared upon the way.

"It's another simple task, isn't it? I was expecting so much more at the beginning." I complained more to Mello than anyone else.

He nodded his head in the direction of the other teams, "Not everyone at Wammy's is a genius in terms of being a detective; Linda is an artist after all. It needs to be fair."

I puffed out my cheeks before letting the air escape in the form of a huff. "That's no fun though."

Combo yawned and stood up; grabbing hold of my elbow and yanking me to my feet too, the motion caused the other two in our company to do the same. "What are you guys doing when we've finished this?" Matt asked.

"Nothing – probably."

"Me either."

"Same."

The gamer seemed pleased with the response that he got and suggested that the four of us go back to his and Mello's room to hang out. Mello was the only one who didn't seem very fond of the proposal; even Combo (who had once loathed that room and all of its inhabitants), seemed eager to agree. Mello protested but eventually conceded after the three of us complained at him for being a sourpuss.

"What is going on with them?" Combo broke into the group teasing and pointed towards the sixteen others, seeing pairs become handcuffed together.

"Does anyone else have that foreboding feeling?" I queried while one of the members of staff walked towards us.

The young woman smiled and chirped happily to us, "You're all required to be joined – I'm afraid." She looked between the teens in front of her; we all probably looked dumbstruck. "Who is paired with whom?"

Mello put his hand firmly on my elbow signalling that we were a pair, whereas Combo yawned once more only making an effort to walk next to Matt who appeared bored out of his mind. The woman smiled and locked our wrists together; there was about a foot of chain between the two of us which prevented my left hand from moving freely. We then shuffled to the general area that everyone else was in – which proved to be a little hard due to the fact that Mello seemed to practically run rather than walk; it was like a strut.

"Calm down, we're all starting together." I sighed and jogged a little, catching up with his pace.

"Alright kids! Are you all ready?" A peppy voice yelled above us all, earning an equally peppy response from the younger participants. "Ready, set…Go!"

The next thing I knew I was being yanked forward – I tried to keep my footing and stumbled a bit, nearly falling flat onto my face. Mello hadn't thought twice about leaping forward and pulling me along for the ride; he seemed to suddenly remember though when I pulled my arm back, jerking him with it. Asshole. "Do you mind not dragging me?"

The first thing that we arrived to that gave the two of us a problem was a rock climbing wall – one that had probably been put up last night. Not only did we have to try and work around those who were also climbing but Mello continuously had to stop in order for me to catch up. It really dawned on me how much he'd slowed down for me the day before – after all, he got to his destination in about half the time that I had; maybe less. He didn't complain _too _much, either. The occasional shout to hurry up or annoyed click of the tongue was all that I had to deal with. We had overtaken all of the others besides Combo and Matt, when we arrived at a line of golf carts.

I slowed to a stop (which Mello did not seem too pleased with), and curiously inspected the sight. "What the hell is with this?"

"I assume that we're supposed to ride them."

I licked my dry lips and jumped inside a deep blue coloured one and played with the wheel excitedly, "I'm driving!"

Mello raised an eyebrow at my enthusiasm but agreed to let me take control anyway. However, when I reached out to start the engine I realised something: "Ah…I don't know how to make it start."

He gave me an exasperated look and pushed on my shoulder roughly, "Move over, I'll drive." I bit my lip to prevent a disappointed and childish pout from making its way on my face.

"Woo! This is awesome!" Matt and Combo powered past us quickly. I looked over to them as they took the lead – Combo had full control of the steering wheel and Matt was clinging to one of the rails for dear life.

Mello suddenly moved a lot faster, eager to regain first place. "No way are _those two _beating me."

Combo looked sneakily over his left shoulder as he operated the machine and let out a frightened yelp when he realised how close our cart was getting to his. He skilfully dodged a mass of bushes in front of us all and Mello followed suit – I made a mental note to find out how these guys knew how to use these things. "Eat my dust, Mello!"

I turned to the boy beside me, "Go faster!" He let out a laugh and sped up our vehicle. We easily overtook the other two and created a substantial gap. I quickly glanced back at them and stuck out my tongue before urging Mello to keep going. He smirked and navigated around posts and trees in the way. I remember that there were quite a few posts directing us where to go to the next obstacle.

Then there was a loud bang from behind us. Mello instinctively brought the cart to a halt and pulled the two of us out through the side next to him. The machine that had been chasing us had swerved into the side of one of the old apple trees – it didn't appear to be too smashed, grazed more than anything, along one side.

"Combo! Matt! You guys alright?"

"Oh, shit."

Matt emerged from the side that Combo was seated, the older boy resting limply on him. "Guys, he just passed out!" Matt called to the two of us. I could feel my skin going cold as I tried to pull Mello faster toward the unconscious teen.

"What the hell do you mean?" I helped pull out Combo along with Matt.

"The cart suddenly started turning right and he collapsed onto the wheel."

I looked into the face of my friend; he was even paler than he seemed this morning. Cursing myself for not thinking more of his unusual behaviour. "Alright, Mello and I are gonna go get help. You stay here and try and wake him up or something." I tried to calm myself down while I planned. Matt nodded and shifted slightly when I fully rested Combo onto him. "Got him?"

"Yeah. Don't worry."

Mello didn't say anything while he drove to the end of the task, or when I was released from him and driven to the hospital by a member of staff.

––––

_A/N: This chapter was published really late in comparison to the last two, and I'm sorry. A lot has been going on within my personal life which has delayed my writing. The subject for the last section really began to upset me at one point; but I didn't want to leave it out because it's really important that it's in. In terms of the chapter itself; I don't think enough happened, I've been dying to get past this introduction section and introduce certain things but I think that what I've planned for the next chapter works better separate to this. So yeah…Woo! I love writing Combo too much, by the way. He is mah baybeh._

_**Frogata**__**: **__Oh my GOD. Melly Jelly Belly – that's all I'm going to be thinking about when I'm writing this now. Imagine Mello with a massive jelly belly /dying_

_**snooze2010: **__My comedic genius, that is. LOL. I was __**so **__tempted to put Mello and Near together – you have no idea! Also, yeah I would have expected Mello to snap at Combo, but I like to think that he was __**less **__aggressive when he was younger and that the whole L not choosing a successor thing was just sort of the final straw. It was the main thing he was working for, after all._

_I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my friend who passed away last month. I will miss you dearly every day and never forget the absolute joy that you brought into my life. Thank you for all the support you've given me; all of the encouragement with my goals, my loves and my dreams, because without you, I don't think I would have ever had the guts to go out and do them. Rest in peace Andy, Your life is a blissful memory and your death, a silent grief._

'_Till next time! _

_-Rai._

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note in any form or way, sadly.**


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